Olympus High School Class of 2000 Alumni Website

It has been a great spring! I’m finally starting to feel a bit better and we’re all excited for the adventures that summer has to bring!

Read more here:
Meanwhile…

The website is currently going through a renovation of sorts, but will be revamped, and more fabulous (hopefully) here in the next little while.  You know how construction is

  

Read more here:
A year (or so…) in review

You know, I believe there are definitely things that you shouldn’t talk about in polite conversation. In fact, unless you are insulated by many, many cocktails and surrounded by very close friends, you shouldn’t talk about them in any conversation. For me, that list includes unpleasant bodily functions, secret racist/homophobic/classist/misogynistic thoughts, and graphic details of your sex life. One of my least favorite things in the world is the phrase, “I really shouldn’t be telling you this..,” because whatever comes next is usually in those three categories listed above.

But there are other things that don’t get talked about. For people my age, this usually includes marital problems or professional frustrations. For example, I have friends who are having a hard time in their marriage or who aren’t getting the job or promotion they feel they deserve…but we don’t talk about that stuff. It’s always there underneath the surface, but I certainly don’t feel right bringing it up. Is that a good thing? I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if I’m supposed to be bringing it up so the person has an outlet to talk about, but then I think it might be pretentious for me to assume they want to share those things with me or anyone else, for that matter.

The funny thing is, I don’t usually have that kind of stuff. Sure, I have things that are personal, but I’m one of those open book people who doesn’t keep a whole lot under lock. Part of that is luck – I haven’t had that many things in my life that were too painful or embarrassing to share. Sure, I have my moments of uncertainty and insecurity and disappointment, but I’ve always found that sharing them takes the edge off for me. That’s why I adore my friends so much. Those listening ears make everything better.

But there’s been this thing. And it’s just been here with me and Kyle, lurking in the background. We haven’t talked to many people about it and we haven’t even talked about it with each other more often than we had to. We finally had one of those things…those rotten things that go on in your life that you don’t want to talk about or acknowledge or share. This is a new thing for us and it’s been…well, just plain rotten.

Unfortunately, this thing also doesn’t seem to be taking care of itself and going away, so I’m starting to realize that we’re going to have to acknowledge it at some point. It is my hope that this thing, like so many other things, will be easier for us to wrap our brains around if we start bringing it out in the open and letting it just be there. So, to let it be there, I’m going to bring it here, on this most public of forums. Today, I’m just that brave.

Long story short: We want a baby and have been trying. It’s not going well.

You didn’t see it, but there was a long pause after I typed that last sentence. What else should I say? I don’t want to drag out the whole story, but I also don’t want to cheat and leave it there. What kind of details am I supposed to bring up? Is it ok that I’m talking about this? Is this a personal story that we’re supposed to keep in house? Will it make any difference that I’m writing this out at all?

Since we got married, we’ve had four miscarriages. Each time we confirmed the pregnancy with the doctor, we bought little things like books and articles of clothing and each time it went away, I packed those things up and took them downstairs. We’ve tucked money away since before we got married so that we had a fund that was just for Baby Morgan. I didn’t look for work when we moved because we figured I’d just have to go on maternity leave anyway, but now, under doctor instructions to stop trying, it looks like we’ll need a new plan. The thought of working and using the baby fund to buy a new car isn’t a tragedy, per se, but it’s sort of aching in a very strange way…like disappointment in very slow motion.

We haven’t given up hope by any stretch of the imagine, since we’re both so young, but every now and then I feel like we just look at each other with total surprise…I don’t know when this will become our normal. I have absolutely no idea how to fit this chapter into our story.

We don’t know how to talk about this with other people. We don’t know how to talk about it to each other. And, I suppose we don’t even know if we’re supposed to talk about it. Nobody else is talking about it, which means lots of people are just going on like they didn’t just hit a major speedbump. Is that what we should be doing? I don’t know. It’s not the worst idea, really. Just keep swimming…

Read more here:
The Things I Don’t Blog About – Part Two

I know that I have been a really terrible blogger lately so here is the update!

Jared: Is still working as the GM of Red Robin. He really enjoys the restaurant but wishes he had more free time. He was able to go to the annual Red Robin Convention in Orlando a couple of weeks ago and had the best time. They were able to go to Universal Studios twice where they closed off part of the park for them. He ate like a king and stayed at the JW Marriott.(yes I was very jealous) He also learned a lot of great new things and it was really nice to have him come home so excited to be apart of Red Robin. Jared has also started working out and has lost 15 pounds. I am so proud of him!

Brooklyn: Is still loving pre-school and dance. She loves to play with her friends and is always trying to plan our next activity. Brooklyn getting excited for our new baby and loves to throw out names for him some of our favorites are Rudolf, snowman, and every boy name in her pre-school class. She is very opinionated about everything and loves to tell us no.

Brady: He is our crazy boy. He is potty trained which went better the expected I only wanted to give up on week 2.5. He is doing really well other then flushing his “undies wares” down the toilet at my parents house. Brady loves to drive his sister crazy. He has also learned some “great” new tricks like leaving McDonald’s when Daddy is distracted, falling off the kitchen counter on his head and blacking out, and biting. We are hoping that these things all lose their appeal really fast.

As for me I am 35 weeks pregnant and ready to be done. This pregnancy has been the hardest of the three so more then likely it is the last. We are excited for baby boy the 2nd to come to our family. I have been really busy just trying to keep up with life and all of the fun that comes with it. I have been working at Carino’s as a hostess on Monday nights and have enjoyed it. We are now in preparation mode and it is really strange to think that the next post could be to announce our new arrival.

p.s. I am having a hard time getting the back ground to change on my blog. If you have any suggestions let me know.

Read more here:
Family Update

I’ve made some friends out in the blogosphere who have the same types of blogs that I do and every now and then we check in with each other to talk about our writing. I had one such chat this morning and I’ve received permission to reprint an interesting tidbit…

thatdisneygirl: my readership is way down. now that I’m not doing the wedding blog, I don’t get a lot of search traffic. I think I’m getting back to the point where it’s only my mom checking the blog.
MamaDeee: you should twitter more
thatdisneygirl: I’m not a fan. I think I need to blog more. I’m just not motivated.
MamaDeee: it’s because you have nothing to blog about. you need to get pregnant.
thatdisneygirl: I’m not getting pregnant for the blog.
MamaDeee: you could fake a pregnancy
thatdisneygirl: I’d think they’d notice when the pregnancy extended past nine months. Besides, this is my real life blog. A lot of my readers actually know me.
MamaDeee: the hottest blogs are mommyblogs
thatdisneygirl: I have kittens. I’m a kitten mommy.
MamaDeee: half of the people in america hate cats
thatdisneygirl: Shit.
MamaDeee: my readership was down for a while until I broke up with (deleted) and then everyone wanted to read about how sad I was. you need to have something going on. you aren’t sad enough or pregnant.
thatdisneygirl: I don’t want to have to get sad or pregnant to blog.
thatdisneygirl: There are a lot of happy, non-mommy bloggers.
MamaDeee: nobody reads them. look at the most popular blogs. they’re all mommies or they’re really sad or angry.
thatdisneygirl: Or they’re men.
MamaDeee: men write about stuff, though. they review products or teach you how to do stuff or write about politics.
thatdisneygirl: I could review stuff.
MamaDeee: you’re an unemployed, nondepressed, nonmommy. nobody cares about your opinions.
thatdisneygirl: That was way harsh, Ty.
MamaDeee: it’s the brutal truth.

Is it true? I was a popular blogger when I was a bride, but now I’m caught somewhere between bride blogging and mommy blogging. I’ll continue blogging either way, since it’s compulsive and not really about the numbers, but the very fact that people are tuning out of my life does sort of make me question my own validity. The bad thing about blogging your life is that you actually get to watch the approval ratings rise and fall on your existence…

Has my life jumped the shark?

Read more here:
Food For Thought

Are you one of those wives that think its annoying that your husband wants to play golf ALL the time? Do you try to outlaw golfing on Saturday’s much like I do? If you are, don’t worry you are totally normal. However friends, I am here to tell you that my days as an anti-golf supporter are over.

Last month Spence participated in a golf tournament. He ended up winning the longest drive competition and a $50 gift certificate to the pro shop where he got some cool stuff. Ok, so that was pretty cool.

Fast forward a month. Spence is having a birthday, we decide we want to buy a BBQ grill. Spence asks for money from everyone. We keep our eye out for amazing deals. On Saturday we are shopping at Home Depot and are told to wait until Labor Day to get a good deal. Well, we have already waited this long, so what’s another month?

Today: Spence plays in a golf tournament up at Jeremy Ranch. He arrives at hole 15, the site of the Longest Drive Competition. Lo and Behold the prize is sitting on the tee box, and what is it? None other, than a BBQ grill! Well, feast your eyes on the pictures below. SPENCE WINS!!! His birthday may not have been the most fun or the most eventful, but baby it made up for it today. Not only did he win a BBQ grill and accompanying grilling accessories, but he also won all of these random gifts, one in particular that he will model below.

Anyway, so I know this post is a bit braggy, but honestly, how cool is that? We are pumped. CONGRATS SPEENIE!!!

One of the random prizes. It is like this fleece/waterproof material that can be a blanket, or you can unzip the hood and the arm holes and it turns into a poncho!

It was a happily ever after golfing day and night. THE END!
************************************************************************************

Since these pictures also go along with the night, I wanted to share them. We got together with our friends Devin and Naomi tonight and there adorable son Spencer, which I just realized I didn’t even get a picture of him. Bummer, he is so cute. Must be the pregnancy brain. Anyway, Na and I are both preggers. It will be fun to have little kids so close together!

About a year ago, I had mentioned to Naomi that when I had another kid there were two things I wanted. 1. A hooter hider & 2. A video monitor.

Well, leave it to cute Naomi to remember, and she made me this adorable hooter hider. I love it. It will be so fun to nurse in style!

Thanks Naomi and Devin – it was great to see you guys as always.

Read more here:
A story about GoLf!

We still have kitties.

We have less kitties, but kitties are still in the apartment. Ruby left this evening with a very nice pregnant woman with lots of tattoos. I didn’t judge the tattoos, but I did judge the pregnancy…or rather I looked on jealously as a happy pregnant woman embraced her new fluffy kitten, since Kyle’s #1 argument against keeping a cat is that I would get toxoplasmosis from the kitty poo and cause a great deal of harm to our unborn child. (You know, the one that doesn’t exist yet.) There are reasons beyond toxowhatchamacallit, which include things like not having a place to live, owning two guinea pigs, and a general anxiety about driving a kitten across the country, but it didn’t stop me from glaring at the back of that nice pregnant woman’s head as she left with my cat.

Honestly, I’m saddened at the thought of adopting out these cuties, but at the same time I really hope they get picked up tomorrow because we’re getting too attached. Our attachment is focused on just one kitty now, ever since Squeaker developed a particular fondness for taking a poo in the middle of the living room rather than in her litter box. Now Kyle and I are both madly in love with Bob and nothing he does is wrong. I’m going to be doing a background check on all potential homes.

What is saddest of all is that I don’t think I’ll be able to get these little guys a home together. Ruby was sort of the odd man out in this little group, as Squeaker and Bobcat seem to be quite attached to each other. Normally, I would assume that it was just a human projection that I felt like they’d miss each other…after all, these kittens each have six brothers and sisters and it’s ridiculous to think that they’d all go through life together. Surely cats don’t have the same sibling attachments that humans do and I’m just making things up in my head.

But every time they go to take a nap (which is pretty much 21 hours of the day), Bob has to wake himself up after he drifts off so that he can go find Squeaker and put his stubby, fuzzy arm around her…

Read more here:
On Separation Anxiety of All Kinds

www.impressionsbysydney.com

Read more here:
9 m.o.n.t.h.s